It is spreading rapidly with communal meals, close sleeping quarters and a lack of protective equipment.
Around 2.2 million adults are currently in jail in various parts of the US, and some of them have contracted the coronavirus. In fact, a lot of prisoners have the virus. At the beginning of April, the largest known concentration of cases of COVID-19 outside of hospitals in the country could unfortunately be found in Cook County Jail in Chicago.
By the end of that month, Sheila Rivera, a jail guard at the massive Chicago facility died of the coronavirus, along with six other inmates. An additional 500 inmates and 300 correctional officers have now been diagnosed as positive for the coronavirus at this location.
Sheriff Tom Dart, who is in charge of the jail, has been taken to court. There is a federal lawsuit centered on the coronavirus’ effect on Cook County Jail, and Dart has been ordered by a judge to improve the sanitation and living conditions at the facility in the face of COVID-19. Why are jails such a welcoming petri dish for the new coronavirus? There are many reasons.
Close Quarters and No Sanitizer
First of all, the close living quarters in jails can make practicing social distancing difficult, reports indicate. Many inmates normally eat in communal areas. They do this at communal tables and they may even sleep in close quarters.
In addition, according to reports in the New York Times and Wbez.org, both inmates and correctional officers are reporting a lack of protective equipment available in some jails. This is making it easy for someone who has the virus to spread it unknowingly to others. Others can also, then, easily catch it.
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There is also the issue of changing the rules. Jail is jail, and inmates are not always allowed to have just anything on hand. Reports indicate that before the coronavirus hit, there were some longstanding rules against giving hand sanitizer to inmates. This was due to the alcohol content it contains. Those rules needed to be changed or overridden in places like Chicago, which may have taken some time to do. This gave the virus extra time to get ahead in the race.
No Testing or Soap
What else is adding to problems? It is a fact that prisons are still not testing everyone from their facility who falls ill. It is also an uneasy fact that not everyone in jail has immediate and easy access to soap and water, in order to wash their hands frequently. This is dire, as washing your hands with soap is one of the only known ways to truly prevent the spread of COVID-19 at this time.
In the face of all these challenges, some inmates are being let go. According to the New York Times, Sheriff Dart released several hundred inmates in an attempt to slow down the spread of the virus.
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These inmates were charged with and convicted of nonviolent crimes. Nonetheless, the virus has taken off like wildfire and the toll is being felt.
In California, inmates are now being given their meals in their cells, in order to improve social distancing measures. Fewer people are being released at one time for outside exercise, and there are hopes that the virus will soon die down. No doubt, it will likely take a few more victims from inside those walls before it does.
Curious to know more about the coronavirus in communal living facilities? Click here.
